Ujjal Dosanjh

[Afghanistan, November 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it is the same Military Police Complaints Commission where the government is engaged in massive obstruction of justice. The actions of the Conservative government undermine our reputation abroad. They also undermine the work of our brave men and women in uniform. The cover-up of these allegations risks our credibility in Afghanistan where our troops have worked courageously to ensure the safety and security of the Afghan people.

Our troops deserve nothing less than the truth. Will the government do right by our troops and call a public inquiry now?

[Afghanistan, November 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, there is substantial evidence. From China to the United Kingdom to the United States, media are reporting an un-Canadian story of a cover-up of torture in Afghanistan.

The longer the Conservatives deny the facts and stonewall, the worse the damage to Canada's reputation. We must be prepared to live by the standards of decency, transparency and respect for human rights that we ourselves embrace on the world stage.

Will the government call a public inquiry and restore Canada's reputation as a global leader in human rights?

[Afghanistan, November 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's national security adviser and his deputy minister for all of Afghanistan knew about the torture allegations and the cover-up. The PMO knew. The PCO knew. It is unthinkable that the Prime Minister and his ministers did not know. Wilful blindness is cover-up, too. Deliberately induced ignorance is cover-up, too.

The honour of Canada demands a judicial public inquiry. Would the government have the courage to call one?

[Afghanistan, November 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it does not behoove the minister of the Crown to attack the credibility of a career public civil servant who is risking it all in the name of Canadian values.

The government knew way back in May 2006 of the massive and systematic cover-up of torture by the Afghan authorities. The fact is that the national security adviser to the Prime Minister knew. The fact is that the Prime Minister's own deputy minister of all Afghanistan knew of the torture and its cover-up.

It is inconceivable that the Prime Minister did not know. The—

[Afghanistan, November 18th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, there is abundant evidence that many in government knew about allegations of torture, dating back to May 2006. There is clear evidence that the government ordered diplomats not to put information in writing about the torture. There is evidence that public servants were threatened if they did not comply with this order. There is also evidence that the government has not been telling the truth about all of this to Canadians. It is time the government levelled with Canadians and told us the truth.

[Afghanistan, November 18th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it is being reported that in 2007, Canadian diplomats were ordered to hold back information in their reports to Ottawa about the torture of Afghan detainees in the hands of Afghan authorities, and that the public servants were threatened with sanctions if they did not comply with that order.

Who in the government issued that order? Why is the government creating an un-Canadian culture of secrecy and cover-up about an issue as abhorrent as torture?

[Citizenship Act, October 28th, 2009]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-467, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (children born abroad).

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to introduce the bill. This bill would amend the Citizenship Act to provide that a child born abroad to or adopted abroad by a citizen employed outside Canada in or with the Canadian armed forces, the federal public administration or the public service of a province be considered like a child born in Canada.

Currently, children born abroad to Canadian government workers are considered under the Citizenship Act to be first generation Canadians born abroad. This, in turn, impacts their children in that they would not be eligible for Canadian citizenship if born outside Canada. This bill would ensure that children born abroad of Canadians working for the federal or provincial governments of Canada would be treated as if they had been born in Canada.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Points of Order, October 27th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I guess this is a day for apologies.

The House may remember the matter of Twitter and the tweeting that I apologized about last Tuesday, and that was an error on my part. Subsequently that day I was approached by the media to talk about the nature of the three different motions, one having been before the defence committee in camera. The motion itself was public. The other two motions by two members before the special committee on Afghanistan were also public.

I discussed those motions, the broadness or the narrowness of the individual motions, but there is a genuine belief on the part of some members that doing so was part of the same transaction of disclosure that occurred on Twitter.

While I may disagree, there are certain members who hold that belief genuinely, and I respect that, and I believe an apology is due from me and one is made sincerely. If members believe that I made an error then I was in error, and I accept full responsibility. I apologize to the House and to the committee.

[Points of Order, October 20th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I wish to inform you and the House that I inadvertently tweeted about matters that I ought not to have tweeted about; that is, the in camera proceedings of the defence committee. That was an error on my part and that entry will be deleted at the earliest possible opportunity, which is right after I get out of here.

[Afghanistan, October 20th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell you how the government acted. It acted in the biggest obstruction of justice before the Military Police Complaints Commission in this country. That is how it acted.

We know Hillier knew. We know the government was aware. We know that Foreign Affairs ADM Colleen Swords was one of the recipients of Colvin's reports. The government continues to maintain its fiction.

Is the government now saying that General Hillier is lying?